News

It's 'peeback' time

Hackney Council is taking action to combat the problem of street urination with walls that wee back.

A new anti-urine coating in two “wetspots” in Shoreditch and Dalston is being trailled during the busy Christmas and New Year party season. The coating creates a barrier that completely repels liquid. This means that anyone choosing to use the walls as a toilet will see their urine bounce off, covering their shoes and trousers. It also stops urine soaking into the wall – reducing stains and smells.

Hackney Council spends £100,000 each year washing urine off walls and pavements. The ‘peeback’ wall is part of a strategy to tackle the problem, including more public toilets and enforcement. The council has fined more than 500 people for public urination in 2015 – a threefold increase on last year.

There are two sets of public toilets in Dalston at Ridley Road Market and Dalston passage, open 24 hours a day. Temporary urinals are situated at New Inn Yard, Gillett Square and Anning Street at weekends. Hackney is the only London borough to be ranked in the local authority Loo of the Year Premier League.

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Come to Hackney and have fun this Christmas and New Year. Please enjoy yourselves safely and think about the people living nearby by keeping the noise down and not weeing in the street.

No-one wants someone weeing on their own doorstep, yet some people continue to do it on the doorsteps of our residents and businesses. If the prospect of a fine doesn’t put them off from weeing in the street, maybe the risk of getting covered in urine will.

Cllr Feryal Demirci, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Sustainability

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Once again, to coincide with the party season, posters have gone up around the borough reminding people not to pee in the street, to drink responsibly and know their limits; look after each other and their stuff; keep the noise down; and be safe by planning their journey home.

The Council is working with the emergency services, venue managers, door staff and TfL to continue to make Hackney safer. As always, wardens and police will be taking to the streets to share local knowledge and assist late at night.

Hackney Council and the local police are also urging people not to take the potentially lethal ‘legal high’ nitrous oxide and are warning sellers that they won’t be tolerated on the streets.

Revellers should plan their route home in advance, and make sure someone knows where they are going and what time they expect to be back. Taxi Marshals are available from 333 Club (opposite Shoreditch Town Hall), outside McDonalds at Liverpool Street Station and from the loading bay near Birthdays, N16 8BJ.

Other ways to check travel plans include bus checker, Tube Deluxe and the Trainline. Calls can also be made to Transport for London on 0843 222 1234. The Cabwise app can also be downloaded for free.